The next day, Jin-kyu woke up with a jolt. He had been having a nightmare about a giant china doll chasing after him repeating "Mama, Mama!" in one of those creepy pseudo-child voices.
"Fuck," he groaned, scraping his hand down his face and reaching for his laptop. The bedroom door was still closed, meaning that Sammy was still asleep and Jin-kyu couldn't go shower yet.
An hour later and Jin-kyu was avidly Googling the question 'How to lift a curse'. Maybe if Patricia wasn't there to help him, at least the internet could. However, the ridiculous amount of useless results that the search engine was spewing up were enough to make Jin-kyu sigh woefully at his screen.
"Are you okay?" Sammy frowned at him, emerging from the bedroom with his hair stuck up like a hedgehog and the loose grey sweatpants slipping down his bony hips.
Jin-kyu swallowed hard as he dragged his eyes back to the screen where he was now searching for anything on 'mannequins come to life'. He frowned as he spotted the name 'Pinocchio' and clicked on the Wikipedia link.
"Wow, Disney really sugar-coated this story," Jin-kyu muttered to himself as he scrolled down the page before turning to Sammy.
"Sammy - can you come here a moment, I'll make you breakfast in a minute."
"I can make it!" Sammy exclaimed, "I realise where I went wrong last time. Cornflakes do not taste good with Pepsi on them."
"It's a mystery solved," Jin-kyu grunted before Sammy settled onto the bar stool opposite him.
Jin-kyu studied the other man's face for a moment, "Okay Sammy, I want you to try lying."
"Er...what?" Sammy's face took on a worried expression.
"We're going to see if your nose grows," Jin-kyu shrugged, taking a slight amount of malicious delight from the look of horror Sammy was now sporting.
Jin-kyu realised this was probably not going to achieve anything, but he was bored from trying to keep Sammy in the house all the time and torturing the younger man had become somewhat of a source of entertainment.
"You..you want me to tell a lie?" Sammy asked unsurely.
"Yup," Jin-kyu replied with a smirk, "just think of the most untrue thing you can and then say it to me."
Sammy chewed on his lip thoughtfully for a moment before replying, "I hate Jin-kyu."
Jin-kyu snapped his eyes back to Sammy's in surprise.
"Did...did it work?" Sammy whispered, his hand tentatively reaching for his nose.
"Stayed the same," Jin-kyu stated, "no Blue Fairy involved apparently."
"Is that good?" Sammy asked, his eyes widening.
"It's nothing," Jin-kyu replied in a monotone voice, swinging himself off of the chair and going to walk back to the bedroom to change before stopping half-way across the floor.
"Do you want to go grocery shopping again today Sammy?"
"Are you serious?" Sammy jumped up excitedly, sending the box of cornflakes flying.
Jin-kyu bit down a begrudging smile before turning and nodding sternly to Sammy. "Only if you promise to act as human as possible."
"I promise!" Sammy cried, stooping down to retrieve the cascaded cereal flakes.
"And wrap up warm," Jin-kyu added, "I don't want to have to be lending you any clothes this time."
*
When they did make it outside, Sammy was wearing no fewer than two Christmas sweaters, a very large thick red scarf, a green bobble hat and of course, his mittens.
Jin-kyu had opted for a grey knitted sweater, his brown leather jacket and a black beanie. He coudn't help but wonder what people must think when they saw the two of them together. Probably the same as what Camille had asked him;
"How the hell did a miserable old grump like you manage to snag him?"
Jin-kyu shook his head and pulled himself back into the present in just enough time to see Sammy step out onto the street in front of a speeding taxi.
"Sammy!" Jin-kyu cried out, darting forwards and snagging the back of Sammy's collar, jerking him backwards and sending them both spinning across the sidewalk.
"Fuck," Jin-kyu grunted as his back collided painfully with a lamppost, although it did serve to steady them both. Jin-kyu glared down at Sammy, who was currently crushed against the older man's chest, the bobble hat pulled down across his eyes. Jin-kyu yanked the hat off as he began to shout,
"What the hell were you doing you idiot? You could have been killed!"
"The store..." Sammy began, looking abashed, "it's across the street."
"That's what traffic lights are for!" Jin-kyu snapped, before groaning and leaning his head back against the cold mental of the lamppost. He let himself catch his breath again before he realised that his arms were still wrapped tightly around Sammy's frame.
"If you can't even cross the road without me holding your hand then what I am meant to do with you?" Jin-kyu said angrily, pushing Sammy off of him and slapping the bobble hat against the other man's chest.
Sammy cocked his head for a moment, regarding Jin-kyu thoughtfully before sticking his arm out with a shrug, "I guess you'll just have to hold my hand then."
Jin-kyu blinked in surprise before rearranging his features into a scowl, snatching at Sammy's hand and dragging him towards the designated pedestrian crossing.
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